Chapter 3

The palace felt eerily quiet, a disturbing sense crawling over Vincent’s skin. He shifted in his seat, staring out the window occasionally as he waited for the messenger he had sent to the Oak Pack.

He knew he hadn’t been in a good relationship with the Oak Pack, and they had no reason to come to his rescue, but he had hoped to touch the humanity in their heart, and he had bared his heart out in the letter he had written to them. He had even promised his beloved sister — without her knowledge — to the alpha of a pack. An alpha whom he had no relationship with and could only hope that he would treat his sister right, but he knew Silver, his sister, would be fine as she was no fool. She could look beautiful and innocent, but he had trained her so that no one on earth would dare take advantage of her.

He growled low in his throat, clenching his fists as he strained his neck again toward the road looking to see the messenger and his ears so he could be aware of the arrival. Damn, he growled, banging his fists on the armrest of his throne.

This awful tension was killing him. He jumped off the throne and paced all around the room, eventually deciding to stand by the window. He could see maids and servants moving about, but as long as they were not the particular servant he was hoping to see, he was not bothered and didn’t even look at them.

Everyone who knew him knew how arrogant he was, but he had shunned his pride and begged for mercy in his letter to Nate, shamelessly using his sister to entice the alpha. He still cringed at the words he had written in the letter and the emotions he had bared for all the world to see. He forced himself to return to his seat, telling himself Nate would consider the offer. There was no way someone with a heart would ignore the blatant cry for help screaming out of the letter.

He scoffed. Even someone with a heart of ice would not be able to resist. He had considered that as he knew nothing of the alpha of the pack even though they were neighboring clans and had thought of appealing to the heart and logic of the alpha and had offered his sister as a deal to move the pack. It was a good offer, and he doubted anyone could have found it easy to resist.

He forced himself to relax and decided to call for the general of his army so he could know more about the situation he was dealing with and keep his mind off the arrival of his messenger. He scowled.

But he should have been here. He thought, wondering what was keeping the man waiting.

“Derrick,” Vincent called to the foot soldier who always stood by the entrance to the palace.

Derrick entered and bowed to Vincent. “You called for me, my lord?”

Vincent nodded. “Yes. Find Scott and tell him I need him to be here.”

“Yes, my lord,” Derrick said and turned to go.

On second thought, Vincent called out to Derrick, and he turned back, facing him. “Any news yet on Pella?”

“No, my lord,” Derrick answered with a shake of his head.

Vincent frowned. “Okay, you can go. Get Scott here.”

Scott moved in, his gait telling of who he was as the general of the pack army if those who saw him were unable to see the angry-looking scar across his face from the side of the bridge of his nose, curved and slanting toward his lips.

“My lord,” his gruff voice said in greeting as he bowed to Vincent, sliding his body into the nearest chair to Vincent, his knife showing as he sat, an indication that he was always ready to fight and give his life to protect the pack.

Vincent loved and respected that about him. He was confident of Scott’s fighting skills, but he wouldn’t be deceiving himself and risking the lives of his men by thinking they could win the battle on their own.

He had already lost many more of his men to the unknown threat they had had to deal with, and he couldn’t afford to lose more. He needed more men to fight than there were in his pack. He stared out the window again, hoping and praying the messenger returned with good news for him.

For them. He had to find a way to save his pack from brutal extinction.

“Any news yet on what has been snatching and killing off our people?”

Scott shook his head. “Not at all.”

Vincent sighed, his head bowed in worry and sorrow. Something was lurking around in the woods near the mountains they lived in and killing off his pack members, and no one knew what it was, only that anyone who ventured into the woods died. The five men he had sent out to scout the area had never returned, and Vincent had refused to send another set of five. He was afraid of what could kill off a band of five werewolves and had forbidden anyone to go near the woods until they could find a solution.

He knew the warning wouldn’t last long as the woods were where the pack entered to hunt for games and also during the full moon. He needed a large army of strong werewolves — which his pack was not big enough for — to go into the woods, search and kill off the monster before his people forgot all about the warning and dash into the woods out of their reckless nature.